SOMERSET, NJ – On December 12th 2014, Francis “Fran” Shammo, CFO of Verizon Communications, Inc. was honored at the CFO Studio reception celebrating the launch of the Fourth Quarter issue of CFO Studio magazine. The event was attended by prominent finance executives and was held at the Westin Governor Morris Inn in Morristown, NJ. Guests enjoyed cocktails, food and a special visit from Santa Claus, who came bearing sweet treats for all.

The evening was hosted by CFO Studio and Real Estate Strategies Corporation and sponsored by Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, Robert Half International, and Revelwood.

Mr. Shammo addressed the group and spoke about the risks that fueled his professional success. “You can’t have success as a CFO without some failure,” he said. “Because you can’t have success without taking risk.” Fran introduced members of his team and went on to speak about some of the bold moves he has supported at Verizon, including taking aggressive measures to elevate Verizon to become a world-class organization, supporting innovation and investing capital in incubation business.

Mr. Shammo also spoke about the importance of recognizing talent and getting that talent on your team. “I know I’m not the smartest person in the room,” said Mr. Shammo. “But as one of my mentor’s once said to me, you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You just have to be smart enough to recognize who are the smartest people in the room.”

To read more about Mr. Shammo’s venturesome risks and management philosophies, visit CFOstudio.com. Francis is featured in the Fourth Quarter 2014 issue of CFO Studio magazine.

The next CFO Studio event will be an Executive Dinner meeting held on January 20th, 2015. Kevin Lenahan, CFO of Atlantic Health System, will lead a discussion on “CFOs, Inspiring Management and Employees to Benefit Under the ACA.” To request an invitation, please contact Lorenz Capalad at Lorenz.Capalad@CFOstudio.com.

We’re Growing

In 2015, CFO Studio and its affiliates will be expanding to serve major markets outside the Tri-state Region. Plans are underway to share information with and facilitate connections between finance executives in more cities across the country.

Actively Seeking a Corporate Board Appointment?

As part of our commitment to helping members of the CFO community find opportunities for career advancement and professional development, CFO Studio is creating a directory to help connect CFOs interested in serving on boards with companies looking to offer finance executives this opportunity. If you or someone you know is actively looking to participate on a board, please contact Lorenz Capalad at Lorenz.Capalad@CFOstudio.com.

CFO Studio Foundation

The CFO Studio Foundation is a non-profit organization founded to raise funds to be donated to various charitable causes. The foundation will begin to fulfill on that mission in 2015. Stay tuned for details about how you and your company can get involved.

About CFO Studio
CFO Studio and CFO Studio Magazine deploy the best of new and traditional media to promote finance executives as business and strategy thought-leaders. Andrew Zezas is the host of CFO Studio and the Publisher of CFO Studio Magazine.

Visit www.CFOstudio.com to watch interviews with New Jersey area CFOs, with new releases every Thursday morning at 10:00 AM EST!

To read stories that have appeared in CFO Studio Magazine, or for subscriptions and advertising opportunities, visit www.CFOstudio.com.

SOMERSET, NJ — Sometimes the best strategic move is to invest capital in an idea that is outside your company’s comfort zone. As described in the cover story of CFO Studio magazine’s Q4 2014 issue, Francis J. (Fran) Shammo, executive vice president and CFO of Verizon Communications, did exactly that when he worked in the operations side of Verizon, and was presented with an opportunity to develop a new, untried technology platform for digital media and video content delivery. Shammo knew that to develop the platform would take all the capital he could squeeze from his budget. Nevertheless, he decided to fund it. That decision defines Fran Shammo as a highly unusual CFO.

His bet paid off. The big idea is now beginning to earn back its invested capital, and Shammo, after a 25-year career first at the Bell company that became Verizon Wireless and then at Verizon itself, has been promoted to CFO of the $120 billion Verizon Communications. “Technology is changing so fast, you have to look at, ‘Where do you think you’re going to be in two years?’ and ‘Where’s technology going to be in two years?’ And those two things may be very different,” the article quotes Shammo as saying.

Shammo’s current focus is to benchmark Verizon’s Finance department with Finance in world-class organizations. As part of this effort, Verizon’s Finance department has consolidated more than 200 locations, looked closely at processes, and improved the manner in which they have been handled. The results are much better efficiency, savings, and the ability to believe in the “truth” of the data: “We know that what’s coming out [of stored financial data] is absolutely controlled and it’s the one form of the truth,” says Shammo.

CFO Studio Magazine, which is published quarterly by Real Estate Strategies Corporation, will release its Q4 issue, featuring business profiles and strategic advice for New Jersey– and

New York–area CFOs, during the second week of December.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government, and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with more than 106 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information, and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries. A Dow 30 company with more than $120 billion in 2013 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 178,500.

About CFO Studio

CFO Studio and CFO Studio magazine deploy the best of new and traditional media to promote finance executives as business and strategy thought-leaders. Andrew Zezas is the host of CFO Studio and the Publisher of CFO Studio Magazine.

Visit www.CFOstudio.com to watch interviews with New Jersey area CFOs, with new releases every Thursday morning at 10:00 AM EST!

To read stories that have appeared in CFO Studio Magazine, or for subscriptions and advertising opportunities, visit www.CFOstudio.com.

SOMERSET, NJ – Francis J. (Fran) Shammo, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Verizon Communications, made a bold investment in an untried technology four years ago when he was on the operations side of the business. As described in the cover story of CFO Studio magazine’s Q4 2014 issue, Shammo funded a platform for digital media and video content delivery that would take all the capital he could squeeze from his budget. Then president of Verizon’s Wireline segment, Shammo believed in and invested in an idea that might never pay off. That decision defines Fran Shammo as a highly unusual CFO.

Shammo, who had a strong background in finance, moved to the CFO role in November 2010 and embarked on a project to raise Verizon’s Finance department to an equal footing with the world’s best. Now, with all of Verizon’s data in one area of Finance, the company has extremely fast decision-support.

CFO Studio magazine readers also get a look at how collaboration between CFOs and chief marketing officers (CMOs) has been helped by marketing’s reliance on data to target campaigns. The article is part of a series on the challenges members of the executive team face in their interactions. Other features in this quarter’s issue include CFO profiles of INTTRA’s Valerie Rainey and Atlantic Health System’s Kevin Lenahan. Parsippany-based INTTRA is an ocean shipping e-marketplace, while Atlantic Health System is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in New Jersey.

CFO Studio magazine, published quarterly by Real Estate Strategies Corporation, features business profiles and strategic advice for New Jersey– and New York–area CFOs. In the magazine’s signature CFO 2 CFO section, Ned Mavrommatis, chief financial officer of I.D. Systems, Inc., describes how machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is transforming the heart of material handling operations, and Tim Anglim, president of YesCFO, writes on ferreting out fraud and how CFOs for privately held companies can protect themselves.

About CFO Studio
CFO Studio and CFO Studio magazine deploy the best of new and traditional media to promote finance executives as business and strategy thought-leaders. Andrew Zezas is the host of CFO Studio and the Publisher of CFO Studio magazine.

Visit www.CFOstudio.com to watch interviews with New Jersey area CFOs, with new releases every Thursday morning at 10:00 AM EST!

To read stories that have appeared in CFO Studio magazine, or for subscriptions and advertising opportunities, visit www.CFOstudio.com.